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By Guohua Bai, Yuanbo Zhang, Guihong Han, Zijian Su, Daoyuan Zhang

"Specularite ores have poor hydrophilicity and ballability as well as inferior high-temperature reactivity, which restrict the large-scale application of them in the pelletizing and sintering production. Modified humic acid (MHA) organic binders are firstly used for pellet preparation from specularite in this paper. The results show that the drop strength of green pellets is 3.7 times/0.5m and compression strength is 12.5 N/P by using 1.0 wt% MHA as binder. Under the optimal experimental conditions of preheating temperature 980 °C, preheating time 12 min, roasting temperature 1280 °C and roasting time 10 min, the preheated pellets have the compression strength more than 400 N/P, and that of roasted pellets is 2747 N/P. The strength of finished pellets meets the requirements of blast furnace iron-making. MHA is a kind of more effective organic binder for specularite pellets compared with the inorganic bentonite.IntroductionAcid Pellets have advantages of good strength, uniformity particle size, high iron grade and good reducibility, which can be used as high-quality burdens for blast furnaces [1]. With fast development of Chinese iron and steel industry domestic magnetite concentrates with high grade of iron and good firing performances become shortage.Imported specularite ores have advantages of low price and high grade of iron (generally above 67 wt%), so the application of them in pellets is an effective way for sustainable development of pellet industry in China. However, the specularites have not been utilized in pelletizing and sintering at present because of the poor ballability and high-temperature reactivity [2, 3]. Most of the pellet plants use bentonite as binders, the amount of which is about 2~3 wt%. The pellet production practice shows that 90 wt% bentonite is still residual in finished pellets and reduces the iron grade [3]. Developing a new organic binder instead of bentonite is very important to the high-quality pellet production. On one hand, the consumption of bentonite is obviously reduced, resulting in decreasing the ironmaking coke ratio and slag discharge; On the other hand, the iron grade of finished pellets are improved, which brings the benefit for the ironmaking production."

Jan 1, 2011

By Jiang Feng, Zhang Libo, Peng Jinhui, Guo Zhanyong, Ju Shaohua, Lei Ting

The clean utilization of the residue containing chloride, CuCl residue, produced from zinc hydrometallurgy is very important for the recycle of valuable metals. And drying is the main process in recycling. In this study, response surface methodology was used to optimize operating conditions of the drying of CuCl residue in a convection oven and desirability function used as the methodology for the optimization. Optimization factors were air temperature (80–100°C), material thickness (10–25mm) and process time (80–120min) while investigated responses was final moisture content. The optimum conditions were found to be the temperature of 95.48°C with the material thickness of 13.47mm for the process time of 89.48 min. Under optimum conditions, the predicted moisture content of CuCl residue was 4.11% while the experimental date was 4.13%. The experimental value after process optimization was found to agree satisfactory with the predicted value. After drying, XRD was used to analyze the main phases of CuCl residue. The CuCl residue is made up of CuCl,Cu2O, ZnS and other compounds.

Jan 1, 2015

By Frederico Muylaert Margem, Giulio Rodrigues Altoé, Glenio Daniel, Pedro Amoy Netto, Sergio Neves Monteiro, Maria Carolina Andrade Teles

The environmental concern is creating pressure for the substitution of high energy consumption materials for natural and sustainable ones. Compared to synthetic fibers, natural fibers have shown advantages in technical aspects such as flexibility and toughness. So there is a growing worldwide interest in the use of these fibers. Fique fiber extracted from fique plant, presents some significant characteristic, but until now only few studies on fique fiber were performed. This work aims to make the analysis of the tensile strength of polyester composites reinforced with fique fibers. The fibers were incorporated into the polyester matrix with volume fraction from 0 to 30%. After fracture the specimens were analyzed by a SEM (scanning electron microscope).

Jan 1, 2015

By Larry G. Twidwell, Jannette L. Chorney, Bryce D. Ruffier, Katelyn M. Lyons, Daniel W. Gaede, Ryan J. Foy, Jerome P. Downey

The Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department at Montana Tech is investigating various methods of extracting and refining rare earth elements from mineral ores and concentrates. As part of this research, an elevated temperature “roasting” process has been evaluated as a means of converting the rare earth elements contained in various matrices to bromides as a pretreatment step in preparation for downstream rare earth element extraction and recovery operations. Laboratory and bench-scale experiments have been performed to assess the effects of varying temperature (150 to 400° C), time (1 to 4 h), and the ammonium bromide to rare earth oxide molar ratio (6 to 24) in the roaster charge. The results show that nearly complete bromination of the rare earth oxide is achievable when the roast is performed under optimum conditions.

Jan 1, 2015

By Jinliang Zhang, Jian Pan, Deqing Zhu

"Limestone and burnt magnesite were added to vary MgO content and basicity (CaO/SiO2 ratio) of pellets for investigating their influences on the properties of specularite pellets. At fixed MgO content, the addition of limestone does not affect on the properties of green balls significantly. The addition of burnt magnesite has obvious influence on the quality of green balls, especially on the thermal shock temperature. Without burnt magnesite, the thermal shock temperatures are about 400°C, and, the thermal shock temperature increases to 600~630°C by adding burnt magnesite. For preheated pellets, when the burnt magnesite is added, the compressive strength will be decreased. For roasted pellets without burnt magnesite, the calcium additives can form binding phase of calcium-ferrite, and suitable liquid phase will improve recrystallization of hematite, but excessive liquid will destroy the structure of pellets, so the compressive strength of pellet increases firstly and then decreases. When adding burnt magnesite, the compressive strength will increase as the basicity increases. When the basicity is more than 0.2, the compressive strength of the pellets various MgO content and basicity is above 2500N/pellet and then MgO-bearing fluxes can be added to prepare pellets with good high temperature properties.IntroductionWith the rapid development of the steel industry in China, oxidized pellets, possessing good mechanical and metallurgical properties, are becoming indispensable burdens for blast furnace ironmaking [1-3]. However, this has resulted in the shortage of domestic iron concentrates, so many Chinese steel plants begin to use imported hematite concentrate to prepare pellets. Compared with magnetite pellets, the hematite pellets require high roasting temperature and narrow roasting temperature range (1300–1350°C) and possess low compressive strength [4,5].1"

Jan 1, 2012

By C. B. Piazzarollo

Ceramic materials exhibit dispersion results after being subjected to various levels of stress, from the point of view of mechanical strength. With the focus on sustainable development and to improve the strength of these material, was incorporated ornamental rock waste into clay in up to 10% in mass to conform some samples, that was fired to 750ºC, 850ºC and 950ºC and submitted to technological tests. This paper presents an analysis of the technological properties of the samples through the use of Weibull statistic to determine which the best firing temperature for these red ceramic materials. The Weibull Modulus indicates a greater homogeneity for samples with 10R at 950ºC.

Jan 1, 2015

By Alejandro R. Alonso, Lizet Alvarado, Gretchen T. Lapidus

"Cobalt and lithium recovery from spent Li-ion secondary batteries has been increasingly studied in recent years due to the high value of both metals and the low proven reserves for lithium. The standard method employed until now has been the deactivation and crushing of the batteries, followed by leaching of the L1C0O2 spinel from the battery cathode using acid solutions, such as 1.5 to 2.0 M HC1 or H2SO4, in a temperature range from 120°C to 250°C. Once leached, the cobalt is separated by electrodeposition and the lithium by precipitation, using large amounts of carbonate to bring the solution to alkaline pH values. In the present work, citric-thiosulfate solutions are used for the spinel leach at room temperature, favoring a reductive environment at room temperature, which stabilizes the cobalt(II) as cobalt citrate and lithium(I) at pH 5, and recovers approximately 99% of both metals.IntroductionThe Li-ion batteries industry has become an important economic sector in recent years. This type of battery is the most promising system for energy storage, because of its high efficiency in charge-discharge cycles, and its adaptability to many configurations. The demand will probably increase because of the need for mobile energy sources in many types of devices ranging from cell phones, tablets, and laptops to medical, navigation and sophisticated communication equipment and even in automobiles.One major problem related to the use of these batteries is the method employed for recycling the components, mostly cobalt and lithium. Currently, there are two processes employed on an industrial scale: the Sony/Sumimoto process, used since 1990 [1] and the Toxco Process [2]. In the first case, incineration is used to open the batteries and at same time volatilize the organic solvents. After that, the metals (copper, iron and aluminum) are physically separated. The cobalt and lithium are recovered as oxides and then thermally treated in order to recycle them for new batteries manufacture."

Jan 1, 2012

By Wantae Kim, Furnia Saito, Qiwu Zhang

"A novel mechanochemical processing technique for the preparation of zeolites from kaolinite in NaOH solution was investigated. Dry and wet mechanochemical treatments combined by subsequent moderate heat treatment could accelerate the synthetic reaction for zeolites from kaolinite. This stimulating process produced zeolite-A and zeolite-X from activated kaolinite at extremely lower reaction temperature than conventionally applied for zeolites production. Conversion to zeolite-A and zeolite-X was strongly dependent on the activated state of kaolinite. Wet mechanochemical treatment modified the chemical composition of activated solids. Rapid dissolution of AIO species rather than SiO ones in the reactant solution was accelerated by wet milling together with NaOH that promoted the formation of zeolite-X of high specific surface area.IntroductionZeolites are a family of hydrated alumina-silicate minerals contains alkali and alkaline earth metals. They have a framework structure that encloses inter-connected cavities occupied by large metal cations and water molecules. Zeolites are characterized for their ability toward ion exchange and reversible dehydration. Properties of them are exploited through commercial productions of particular structural and chemical features. Zeolites are used as commercial uses for catalysis for FCC (fluidized catalytic cracking) of petroleum refining, drying reagents of gases and liquids, and selective adsorbent for pollution control [1-3]. In such purposes, artificially synthesized zeolites are employed, although natural ones are associated with hydrothermal and hot spring alteration of volcanic materials. Commercially, a hydrothermal process has been used for the preparation of zeolite synthesis. This preparation method gives zeolites of high chemical homogeneity and purity, however, this wet-chemistry-based processing is significantly influenced by reaction temperature, pH, concentration, and composition of starting substances [4]."

Jan 1, 2000

By Minting Li, Hailong Yang, ChangWei, Cunxiong Li, Gang Fan, Xingbin Li, ZhiganDeng

The filtration problems on acid leaching sludge of high silicon zinc ore have been paid extensive attention in zinc hydrometallurgy. It was found that soluble silica can be effectively converted into silica precipitate with good settling, filtration and washing properties, and the filtration rate can be in excess of 800 L/m2 · h under certain leaching conditions. According to investigating on the filtration rate, viscosity and concentration of silica of leaching sludge or liquor, the filtering temperature can tremendously improve the filtration property of pulp. At the same time, the experimental data indicated that the viscosity of leaching liquor was the key factor influencing filtration property of leaching sludge.

Jan 1, 2016

By Dilek Kirgöz, Onuralp Yücel, Murat Alkan

"In this study, Mo containing Fe-based alloys, such as Fe-Ni-Cr-Mo, were synthesized using a mixture of Fe203-NiO-Cr203-Mo03 powders reducing with Al powders by metallothermic process which is a high energy efficient, fast and low-cost production technique for synthesis of cast alloys and advanced ceramics. Detailed thermochemical studies were simulated by using FactSage 6.2 Thermochemical software in order to calculate adiabatic temperature of the reactions and effects of initial molar composition on the final products. In the metallothermic processes, effects of stoichiometric Al addition and addition of the oxide powders (Alz03, Si02, CaO, MgO) on the metal recovery and compositions of final alloys were carried out. Final products were characterized by using chemical analysis (AAS), XRD, XRF and SEM/EDS techniques.IntroductionSelf Propagating High Temperature Synthesis (SHS) has significant advantages compared to the high technology furnace applications, such as very short processing time, simple operation, low energy requirement and low cost [l, 2]. In a SHS process, the ignition starts the combustion and propagates throughout the reactant mixture yielding the desired product. However, the disadvantages of the process such as inhomogeneous or unreacted products due to undesirable reaction rates needs to be overcome by changing some parameters such as ignition temperature, particle size, additive, atmosphere etc. [3, 4]. This work aims to establish a scientific and engineering background in the production of some cast Fe based alloys (Fe-Ni-Cr-Mo) which are used as surface coatings, wear-corrosion-oxidation resistive applications via SHS (Self Propagating High Temperature Synthesis) metallurgy which is attractive process technique regarding fast and low-cost production ability of cast alloys."

Jan 1, 2013

By Mikiya Tanaka

Keywords: Solvent extraction, nickel, electroless plating, accelerating effect With the increasing importance of electroless nickel plating technology in many fields such as the electronic and automobile industries, the treatment of spent baths is becoming a serious problem. Although the spent baths are currently treated by a conventional precipitation method, a method with no sludge generation is desired. Previously, we proposed the solvent extraction recovery of nickel from the spent baths by means of solvent extraction using LIX84I as the extractant. However, a problem of this method was that the extraction and stripping of nickel were not fast enough to achieve high efficiencies when the continuous extractor was used. We have overcome this difficulty by finding that the addition of an acidic organophosphorous reagent in small amount into the organic phase markedly promotes the extraction and stripping rates of the nickel. Shaking-out tests using a separatory funnel at 240 spm revealed that the time to reach the equilibria is more than 60 min with only 20 vol% LIX84I, but is reduced to 10 min and 2.5 min by adding 2 vol% DP8R, respectively, during the extraction and the stripping with sulfuric acid.

Jan 1, 2004

By Hebi Yin

A coupled cellular automaton (CA) - finite element (FE) model was developed to calculate the growth of dendrites during the solidification of cubic and hexagonal metals. The model solves the conservation equations of mass, energy and solutes in order to calculate the temperature field, solute concentration and the growth morphology of dendrites, including the grain structure and the dendritic microstructure. Validation of the model was performed by comparing the simulation results with calculation results from previously published works, showing qualitatively good agreement in the dendritic morphology. Application to magnesium alloy AZ91 illustrates the difficulty of modeling dendrite growth in hexagonal systems, observed as deviations in growth direction caused by mesh-induced anisotropy. The model was applied to the simulation of small specimens with single- and multiple- equiaxed grain growths and columnar grain growth in directional solidification. The influence of cooling rate and some kinetics parameters on the grain morphology are also discussed.

Jan 1, 2009

By J. A. Gonzalez-Dominguez

During the electrorefining of lead by the Betts process, ionic concentration gradients become established within the slimes layer. These gradients contribute to precipitation of secondary products and to gradients in electrode potential applied to slimes filaments, and thereby affect the dissolution of noble impurities. This paper describes the experimental results obtained when a typical lead anode was dissolved under galvanostatic conditions with concurrent interruption of current at preset slimes thicknesses. Reference electrodes were incorporated within the lead anode to follow the potential gradients across the slimes electrolyte. Samples of the slimes electrolyte were withdrawn in-situ and their compositional changes were related to transport processes across the slimes layer. Upon current interruption the anodic overpotential decays, first abruptly (as the uncompensated ohmic drop disappears), and then slowly (due to the presence of a back E.M.F. created by ionic concentration gradients that decay slowly). Current interruption measurements showed that: (A) concentration gradients exist across the slimes layer, (B) inner solution potentials within the slimes layer can be larger than those measured from reference electrodes located in the bulk electrolyte, (C) secondary products can shift the inner solution potential to negative values that reverse upon re-dissolution and (D) ionic diffusion is seen upon current interruption but it is complex and difficult to model due to the presence of processes that can support the passage of internal currents. SEM and X-ray diffraction analysis of the slimes filaments indicated that secondary reactions leading to the formation of Si02 and PbF2 take place (mainly at the anodelslimes interface). The onset of these reactions and their relationship to the Pb-F-Si-H20 Eh-pH diagram are linked to the industrial operation of the Betts process.

Jan 1, 1994

By S. A. Davis

In July of 1996, the Kroll process began production again at TIMET's Henderson, NV, manufacturing facility. This, after being shut down for several years due to low market demand for titanium. Faced with limited pond capacity and increasing costs for water and wastewater disposal and storage; process changes were made to recycle water used to wash Kroll titanium sponge back into the sponge leaching process. This idea was revisited from 1992-93, when three consecutive attempts to recycle water for this application were unsuccessful due to early pump failure. Since it was uncertain why previous attempts failed, a complete understanding of the existing system was first sought. This included reviewing piping and flow diagrams; taking field measurements for all the piping, valves, and fittings; analyzing the wastewater composition; and modeling the fluid dynamics and control of the system. The fluid dynamics of the system were modeled by breaking the piping network up into nodes and applying the Bernoulli equation to each segment. The fluid flowrate control valves were modeled for this purpose also and the models were used to help specify the required processing equipment and control ranges and tolerances. Once the project was completed, an operating procedure was prepared for operation, startup, and shutdown of the washer water recycle system.

Jan 1, 1999

By Artur R. P. Junior Sergio, Pedro A. Netto, N. Monteiro, Foluke S. de Assis, Frederico M. Margem

Synthetic fibers are being replaced gradually by natural materials such as lignocellulosic fibers. Compared to synthetic fibers, natural fibers have shown advantages in technical aspects such as environmental and economic. So there is a growing international interest in the use of those fibers. The banana fiber presents significant properties to be studied, but until now few thermal properties on banana fiber as reinforcement of polyester matrix were performed. The present work had as its objective to investigate, by photoacoustic spectroscopy and photothermal techniques the thermal properties of diffusivity, specific heat capacity and conductivity for polyester composites reinforced with banana fibers. In the polyester matrix will be added up to 30% in volume of continuous and aligned banana fibers. These values show that the incorporation of banana fibers in the polyester matrix changes its thermal properties.

Jan 1, 2015

By M. Z. Mubarok

Effect of single addition of a lignin-based biopolymer additive, DP 2782, at various dosages as well as in combination with thiourea on cathode polarization during copper deposition was investigated by performing potentiodynamic and galvanostatic measurements using a potentiostat. The result of electrochemical measurements was compared with the behaviour of cathode deposition with glue and thiourea additives. Surface micro-appearance of the copper deposit after 1 h galvanostatic scan under current density of 330 A/m2 and various additive type and dosage was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) examination. It was found that the addition of 2.5 mg/l biopolymer gave sufficiently polarizing effect of copper deposition. SEM examination of the cathode surface after galvanostatic scan revealed that the combination of the biopolymer with thiourea (2.5 and 3.5 mg/l) resulted in a compact deposit which is comparable with that resulted from the test with glue and thiourea.

By Felipe Costa Hashimoto Bertin, Jorge Alberto Soares Tenório, Rodrigo de Souza Dalti Pereira, Denise Crocce Romano Espinosa

"The increasing amount of portable devices and their fast obsolescence generates an increasing quantity of discarded batteries. The recycling process of discarded batteries allows the recovery of metals for further use and avoids the contamination of soil and water. Even though there are several researches on the topic, few papers focus on mixed batteries. The purpose of this work is to characterize a mass of collected mixed batteries and study the hydrometallurgical process of recycling. The specific leaching parameters studied were pH, temperature and reduction potential. The specific goal was testing the selectivity of pH for leaching each metal. The results show that the optimal leaching occurs in acid solutions with negative pH at IM of sulfuric acid and at room temperature (25°C).IntroductionThe increasing portability of electronic devices in the past century along with their fast obsolescence produce tons of discarded materials yearly that could be recycled generating new materials for the industry. For example, metals such as cobalt and nickel, that are worth respectively US$ 30.00 and US$ 16.10 per kilogram[l,2] are disposed in urban trash yearly, which means that millions of dollars are thrown away instead of being recovered and reused[3].Besides the obvious fact that the society is throwing money away, most of these metals are toxic for the environment and all mammals, so when badly stored after use they can be found contaminating ground water which will contaminate the entire lifecycle. Some of these metals can cause cancer, serious lung problems and have bioaccumulative properties [4] resulting in lower productions of natural products and maybe death for consumers.So in compliance to new regulations such as the National Solid Residue Politic (PNRS) and the CONAMA-Resolution N°401 from November of 2008[5]- (that follows similar restrictions and regulations as the European directives) all those urban and electronic wastes need to be correctly disposed and treated before being thrown away on local dump sites.In Brazil the national rate of garbage recovery is around 70%, which only 5% is properly recycled, accordingly to the research of the UFSC, also electronic waste grows at 5% per year [6]The present study was motivated by the fact that recycling processes for batteries are not spread through the country and by the fact that most papers do not try to recycle a mixed mass of batteries, but a specific mixture which does not represent the composition of traditional household wastes."

Jan 1, 2014

By P. Myllykoski, J. Nylander, A. S. Korhonen, J. Larkiola

The coefficient of friction and the deformation resistance have been determined from the measured rolling parameters by applying the Bland-Ford-Ellis rolling force model and the artificial neural network model (ANN). The dependence of friction on the parameters such as reduction, rolling speed, front and back tensions, contact pressure and deformation resistance have been studied by the ANN model. Measured data of over 10 000 coils have been used in the training stage. Various dependencies have been examined and the results show that the friction coefficient does not depend much on the rolling speed. The reduction and deformation resistance seem to have the strongest effect on the friction coefficient. A friction model based on neural computing has been included into the existing rolling force model.

Jan 1, 1994

By Y. Suzuki, J. Nagao, Y. Ueda, K. Shimokawa

"A Ti- Ni intermetallic compound could be formed rapidly from Ti and Ni powder compact with SHS process. Microgravity experiments using a drop shaft are carried out, This report shows the effect of microgravity or high gravity on formability of an intermetallic compound. It is concluded that the specimen forms a porous and nearly amorphous alloy by rapid cooling under microgravity but with rapid cooling under high gravity after microgravity, the specimen forms a uniform and dense structure with better crystallinity.IntroductionTi - Ni inter1etallic co1pounds have been produced and have beco1e si1ilar to the a1orphous and porous structure as a result of the SHS (Self Propagating High-te1perature Synthesis) process under 1icrogravity. SHS process is being applied to the synthesis of cera1ics and inter1etallic co1pounds (1). The technique is characterized by a large a1ount of heat being emitted within a very short ti1e interval as regards the sistering reaction. One SHS process, acco1panying 1elting by a reaction was observed, and that was due to the quick heating of a Ni-Ti co1pact containing 50 ato1ic percent of Ti under a low pressure (2-4). In this report, we have researched the use a drop shaft which is 1ore effective during a short ti1e under 1icrogravity and high-gravity, so as to obtain high dense speci1ens with the exception of porous specimens (5). Mechanical properties of each specimen were esti1ated from these 1icro-structures with a discussion about the effect of changing gravity regarding 1elting and solidification of the Ti-Ni intermetallic comounds."

Jan 1, 1996

By Aichun Zhao, Rui Wang, Yihong Li, Yanping Bao, Yafeng Ji, Jiansheng Liu, Xiao Hu, Qingxue Huang

The slag entrapment under different conditions of 80t blowing argon ladle furnace was investigated by physical simulation. The water was used to simulate liquid steel and liquid paraffin was for slag. The processing of slag entrapment under different blowing structures was analyzed and the critical velocity and critical droplets diameter of describing it was obtained. Based on the experiments, the relationship between the interface flow velocity and the critical blowing rate CBR was deduced. In the real process, it is suggested that the bottom blowing rate is from 40 L/min to 180L/min when the interface tension is 0.12~1.2 N/m during the soft argon blowing.

Jan 1, 2016